19 March History


Month:                           Date:     

  • 1687    -    The French explorer La Salle is murdered in by his own men while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
  • 1702    -    On the death of William III of Orange, Anne Stuart, sister of Mary, succeeds to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.
  • 1822    -    Boston is incorporated as a city.
  • 1879    -    Jim Currie opens fire on the actors Maurice Barrymore and Ben Porter near Marshall, Texas. His shots wound Barrymore and kill Porter.
  • 1903    -    The U.S. Senate ratifies the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.
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  • 1916    -    The First Aero Squadron takes off from Columbus, NM to join Gen. John J. Pershing and his Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico.
  • 1917    -    The Adamson Act, eight hour day for railroad workers, is ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
  • 1918    -    Congress authorizes Daylight Savings Time.
  • 1920    -    The U.S. Senate rejects the Versailles Treaty for the second time.
  • 1924    -    U.S. troops are rushed to Tegucigalpa as rebel forces take the Honduran capital.
  • 1931    -    The state of Nevada legalizes gambling.
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  • 1935    -    The British fire on 20,000 Muslims in India, killing 23.
  • 1936    -    The Soviet Union signs a pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan.
  • 1944    -    The German 352nd Infantry Division deploys along the coast of France.
  • 1945    -    Adolf Hitler orders a scorched-earth policy for his retreating German armies in the west and east.
  • 1947    -    Chiang Kai-Shek's government forces take control of Yenan, the former headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party.
  • 1949    -    The Soviet People's Council signs the constitution of the German Democratic Republic, and declares that the North Atlantic Treaty is merely a war weapon.
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  • 1963    -    In Costa Rica, President John F. Kennedy and six Latin American presidents pledge to fight Communism.
  • 1977    -    Congo President Marien Ngouabi is killed by a suicide commando.
  • 1981    -    One technician is killed and two others are injured during a routine test on space shuttle Columbia.

  • 19 March Birthdays

  • 1589    -    William Bradford, governor of Plymouth colony for 30 years.
  • 1721    -    Tobias George Smollett, satirical author and physician (Roderick Random, Humphrey Clinker).
  • 1813    -    David Livingston, explorer found by Arthur Stanley in Africa.
  • 1821    -    Sir Richard Burton, English explorer.
  • 1848    -    Wyatt Earp, U.S. marshal.
  • 1849    -    Alfred von Tirpitz, Prussian admiral who commanded the German fleet in early World War I.
  • 1860    -    William Jennings Bryan, orator, statesman, known as "The Great Communicator."
  • 1889    -    Sarah Gertrude Millina, South African writer (The Dark River, God's Stepchildren).
  • 1891    -    Earl Warren, governor of California, later 14th Supreme Court Chief Justice.
  • 1904    -    John J. Sirica, U.S. Federal Judge who ruled on Watergate issues.
  • 1906    -    Adolf Eichman, Nazi Gestapo officer.
  • 1912    -    Adolf Galland, German Luftwaffe pilot.
  • 1925    -    Brent Scrowcroft, Lt. Gen. (USAF), National Security Advisor to President George H.W. Bush.
  • 1933    -    Phillip Roth, American novelist and short-story writer (Portnoy's Complaint).